Method of knitting neck of knit wear by weft knitting machine and the knit wear

ABSTRACT

Portions of front sleeves  4   a,    14   a  extending from underarms to tops of sleeve caps are joined to first portions of the front body  2   a  extending partway of their lengths extending from the underarms to the shoulders along armholes  22;  wherein tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves  4   a,    14   a  and a part of tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves  4   b,    14   b  on the side continuous to the tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves  4   a,    14   a  are joined to part of the front body extending from the first portions to the shoulders, and widening stitches are formed around the neckline  10   a  at the part of the front body extending therefrom to the shoulders; portions of the back sleeves  4   b,    14   b  extending from the underarms to the tops of the sleeve caps are joined to portions of the back body extending from the underarms to the shoulders along armholes  22;  and wherein extended portions  9   b,    19   b  are formed in the remaining portions of the tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves  4   b,    14   b  and are knitted to be continuous to the shoulder portions of the back body  2   b,  and the front body  2   a  and the back body  2   b  are joined together across the extended portions  9   b,    19   b,  whereby a seamless knitwear comfortable to wear having a front drop formed in the neckline  10  and having a large collar width is produced.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a knitting method of knitting aneckline of knitwear, such as a sweater and a cardigan, and to theknitwear knitted in the knitting method.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] The applicant previously proposed in Japanese Laid-open(Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 4-214448 a knitting method ofknitting a knitted fabric by using a flat knitting machine wherein aneckline of a front body is widened and also a front drop is formed inthe neckline. In this knitting method, the front body is so knitted asto be forked from a starting point for the neckline to be formed into aright front body and a left front body which confront each other acrossthe neckline. In the process of the knitting, widening stitches areformed around the neckline and also the stitches of the right front bodyand left front body are shifted to the outside, respectively. Thisknitting is repeated to knit the front body from the right and leftfront bodies up to their shoulder portions. As a result of the necklinebeing formed in this manner, the number of wale of the neckline isincreased and, as a result of this, not only a collar knitted subsequentthereto is widened but also the front drop is automatically formed inthe neckline. When the front body thus knitted is used to produce asweater, the knitwear comes to be fancy and stylish and so comfortableto wear that when wearing, one's head can smoothly pass through theneckline.

[0003] The method of the publication cited above is directed to aknitting technology for knitting the front body singularly as a part,not to the so-called “seamless knit” that is the knitting technology inwhich the front body and the back body are joined at eachknitting-widthwise end thereof, to knit them into a tubular form andalso are joined together at shoulder portions thereof in the process ofknitting by using the flat knitting machine, to complete the knitting ofknitwear, such as a vest and a sweater.

[0004] The “seamless knit” is the knitting technology for simplifying oromitting the sewing operation after the knitting process. The applicanthas proposed in many applications a variety of knitting technologies onand in connection with the seamless knit so far, including JapaneseLaid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publications No. Hei 2(1990)-91254, Hei2(1990)-229248, Hei 4(1992)-209855 and Hei 4(1992)-153346.

[0005] In the seamless knit using a two-bed flat knitting machine, forexamples, odd needles on the needle beds are used for a front part of aknitted fabric, such as a front body and front sleeve parts; evenneedles are used for a back part of the knitted fabric; and alternateneedles on the front and back needle beds are used for the seamlessknit. When the front part of the knitted fabric is knitted, the backpart of the knitted fabric is retained on (associated with) the backneedle bed. On the other hand, when the back part of the knitted fabricis knitted, the front part of the knitted fabric is associated with thefront needle bed. Thus, the respective fabrics are knitted, with thefront and back parts overlapping each other. As a result of this, theempty needles for transference can always be reserved for the respectiveparts of the knitted fabric on the opposed needle beds. Using the emptyneedles enables the knitting of the structure pattern, such as links,garter and rib, in which front stitches and back stitches are mixed, andalso enables the stitches of the sleeves and bodies to be shiftedlaterally so as to be joined to each other. In contrast to this, in theseamless knit using a four-bed flat knitting machine, for example, theneedles on the lower front needle bed and the upper back needle bed areused to knit the front part of the knitted fabric, and the needles onthe lower back needle bed and the needles on the upper front needle bedare used to knit the back part of the knitted fabric. In the seamlessknit using the four-bed flat knitting machine, when the front part ofthe knitted fabric is knitted, the back part of the knitted fabric isassociated with the lower back needle bed. On the other hand, when theback part of the knitted fabric is knitted, the front part of theknitted fabric is associated with the lower front needle bed. As aresult of this, the seamless knit using the four-bed flat knittingmachine does not have the limitation that the alternate needles are usedfor the seamless knit, differently from the seamless knit using thetwo-bed flat knitting machine. The seamless knit can be provided byusing a flat knitting machine of a transfer jack bed type having atransfer jack bed arranging thereon transfer jacks in line and disposedover either or both of the front and back needle beds of the two-bedflat knitting machine.

[0006] On the other hand, the stitch loop holding technique disclosed byJapanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei11(1999)-43849, which is called “holding technique”, is applicable tothe seamless knit. The terminology, “holding”, means the stitch loopholding technique using a kind of compound needle, which is called“slide needle”, comprising a needle body and a slider which is formed bycombining two thin metal sheets and has a tongue at a front end portionthereof. In the holding technique, the stitch as was originally retainedin the hook of the needle body is held by the needle and also anadditional stitch is received and held on the tongue of the slider, sothat those two different stitches are separately held by the sameneedle. Reference is made to the publication mentioned above about thedetails of “the holding”. Using this holding technique enables theneedle from which the stitch is transferred to be used as the emptyneedle. If this holding technique is used to transfer the stitches backto the original empty needles after the knitting is adequatelyperformed, even the two-bed flat knitting machine can knit the knitwearseamlessly with all needles, without any need for previous reservationof the empty needles for the transference of stitches.

[0007] However, the application of the knitting method of JapaneseLaid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 4(1992)-21448previously cited to the knitwear to be knitted seamlessly is not easywhen the knitwear is wanted to widen the neckline width and also formthe front drop in the neckline portion. For example, when the knitwearis knitted in the form of a vest, consideration must be taken of notonly the front body but also the relation with the back body which isintegrally knitted in parallel with the front body to confront it.Further, in knitting a sweater, a cardigan or the like, since thesleeves are laid at each side of the bodies, further consideration mustbe taken, including the horizontal and vertical positions of those partsand the way of forming the neckline in the front body and of beingintegrally knitted with the other parts while shifting the neckline tothe outside, thus requiring further complicated consideration andcalculation.

[0008] It is the object of the present invention to provide knitwear,such as a sweater, knitted seamlessly so as to have a front drop formedin the neckline which is knitted to have a large knitting width so as tobe stylish and comfortable to wear.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention provides a method of knitting knitwearcomprising a front part having a front body and sleeves and a back parthaving a back body and sleeves by using a flat knitting machinecomprising at least a pair of first and second needle beds, which areextended laterally and confront each other in back and front and atleast either of which can be racked laterally to transfer stitchesbetween the needles beds, wherein the knitwear is knitted in thecondition that the front part of the knitwear is associated with thefirst needle bed and the back part of the knitwear is associated withthe second needle bed, so that the body and sleeves of the front partand the body and sleeves of the back part are joined at bothknitting-widthwise ends, so as to be knitted in the form of a tubularbody and wherein while the bodies and the sleeves are knitted up tounderarms of the knitwear and then are joined together from theunderarms to shoulders so as to be knitted into a tubular form, stitchesof the both sleeves and stitches of the bodies are laid over each otherin sequence so that the tubular body can gradually decreased indiameter,

[0010] wherein a neckline is knitted in the following steps:

[0011] a) that from a front neckline forming starting point, from whichthe front body is forked into a right front body and a left front body,the right front body, a right sleeve, the back body, a left sleeve andthe left front body are knitted in this order, and, then, after a yarnfeeder is reversed in direction at the front neckline, to knit the leftfront body, the left sleeve, the back body, the right sleeve and theright front body in this order in a shuttle knitting, during which thestitches around the front neckline are sequentially put into inoperativestates and simultaneously the stitches of the both sleeves are shiftedtoward the bodies and are laid over the stitches of the bodies one afteranother, so as to decrease a diameter of the tubular body;

[0012] b) that only the left front body and the right front body areknitted, during which the stitches around the front neckline aresequentially removed from the knitting so as to be put into inoperativestates and also while the stitches of the back sleeves are fed fromoutside to the front needle bed to keep balance between the knittingwidths of the front and back fabrics at sleeve portions thereof retainedon the first and second needle beds, the stitches of the front sleevesare shifted toward the front body and laid over the stitches of thefront body;

[0013] c) that while the knitting that the stitches around the frontneckline are sequentially removed from the knitting so as to be put intoinoperative states is continuously performed, the knitting of only theright front body and the left front body is performed, during whichwhile widening stitches are formed, the stitches of the right front bodyand the stitches of the left front body are shifted toward the sleeves,so as to allow the stitches of the front sleeves to be laid over thestitches of the back sleeves as were fed to the first needle bed in thestep b); and

[0014] d) that after shoulder portions of the back body and extendedportions provided on tops of sleeve caps of the back sleeves are knittedin the order of the right back sleeve, the back body and the left backsleeve, the yarn feeder is reversed in direction to knit the left backsleeve, the back body and the right back sleeve in this reverse order inthe shuttle knitting, during which the fabrics at the extended portionsare fed toward the back body so as to allow the stitches at side ends ofthe sleeves and the stitches at side ends of the back body to be laidover each other and simultaneously the stitches of the front body atside ends thereof adjacent to the sleeves are fed to the second needlebed so as to be sequentially laid over the stitches at the side ends ofthe sleeves, whereby the front body and the back body are joinedtogether across the extended portions of the sleeves.

[0015] Also, the present invention provides a knitting method ofknitwear having a neckline with a front drop knitted by using a flatknitting machine, the neckline is knitted in the following steps:

[0016] a) that portions of front sleeves extending from underarms totops of sleeve caps are joined to first portions of the front bodyextending partway of their lengths extending from the underarms to theshoulders along armholes;

[0017] b) that tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves and a partof tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves on the side continuous tothe tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves are joined to part ofthe front body extending from the first portions to the shoulders, andwidening stitches are formed around the neckline at the part of thefront body extending therefrom to the shoulders;

[0018] c) that portions of the back sleeves extending from the underarmsto the tops of the sleeve caps are joined to portions of the back bodyextending from the underarms to the shoulders along the armholes; and

[0019] d) that extended portions are formed in the remaining portions ofthe tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves and are knitted to becontinuous to the shoulder portions of the back body, and the front bodyand the back body are joined together across the extended portions.

[0020] Also, the present invention provides knitwear having a necklinewith a front drop knitted by using a flat knitting machine, whereinportions of front sleeves extending from underarms to tops of sleevecaps are joined to first portions of the front body extending partway oftheir lengths extending from the underarms to the shoulders alongarmholes; wherein tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves and apart of tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves on the sidecontinuous to the tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves arejoined to part of the front body extending from the first portions tothe shoulders, and widening stitches are formed around the neckline atthe part of the front body extending therefrom to the shoulders;portions of the back sleeves extending from the underarms to the tops ofthe sleeve caps are joined to portions of the back body extending fromthe underarms to the shoulders along the armholes; and wherein extendedportions are formed in the remaining portions of the tops of the sleevecaps of the back sleeves and are knitted to be continuous to theshoulder portions of the back body, and the front body and the back bodyare joined together across the extended portions.

[0021] Operation of the present invention will be described below.

[0022] From the front neckline forming starting point, the front body ofthe knitwear knitted into the tubular body is forked into a right frontbody and a left front body and also is knitted by the shuttle knittingin the order of right front body—right sleeve—back body—left sleeve—leftfront body as if the alphabetic character “C” is drawn. Also, when theknitting is returned at the neckline, the stitches around the necklineare sequentially put into inoperative states. As a result of this, acircular front drop is formed in the front neckline and also an apertureof the neckline is widened. In parallel with this knitting, the frontsleeves and the back sleeves are shifted toward the front body and theback body, respectively, and the stitches of the sleeves and thestitches of the bodies are laid over each other one after another alongthe armholes, so as to decrease a diameter of the tubular body. As aresult of this knitting, the portions of the front sleeves extendingfrom the underarms to the tops of the sleeve caps are joined to portionsof the front body extending partway of their lengths extending from theunderarms to the shoulders along the armholes and the portions of theback sleeves extending from the underarms to the tops of the sleeve capsare joined to the portions of the back body extending partway of theirlengths extending from the underarms to the shoulders along thearmholes.

[0023] Then, the knitting of the back body and the sleeves is suspended,during which only the left front body and the right front body can beknitted. During this knitting, the aperture of the neckline is widenedcontinuously and the joining of the sleeves and the bodies iscollaterally performed. The joining of the sleeves and the bodies isperformed in such a manner that the front body and the front sleeves arejoined together, first, and, then, a part of the back sleeves are joinedto the front body. During this knitting, the front sleeves retained onthe first needle bed are shifted toward the front body. If this knittingproceeds, then the front sleeves and the back sleeves will be moved awayfrom each other in the boundaries to cause possible yarn ruptures in theboundaries therebetween. To avoid this possible yarn rupture, thestitches of the back sleeves retained on the second needle bed aresequentially fed to the first needle bed from the stitch at each outsideend thereof, so as to keep balance of the knitting width between thesleeves retained on the front needle bed and the sleeves retained on theback needle bed.

[0024] During the next knitting of the neckline, while the wideningstitches are formed, the stitches of the right front body and thestitches of the left front body are shifted toward the sleeves and arelaid over the stitches of the front sleeves retained on the first needlebed and the stitches of the back sleeves shifted one after another. As aresult of this knitting, the portions of the front body extendingpartway of their lengths extending therefrom to the shoulders, the topsof the sleeve caps of the front sleeves and a part of the tops of thesleeve caps of the back sleeves on the side continuous to the tops ofthe sleeve caps of the front sleeves are joined together.

[0025] Then, the shoulder of the back body and the extended portionsprovided on the tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves undergo theshuttle knitting between the right back sleeve, the back body and theleft back sleeve. During this knitting, the fabrics of the extendedportions of the sleeves are shifted toward the back body so as to allowthe stitches of the sleeves and the back body at side ends thereof to belaid over each other and also the stitches of the front body at sideends thereof adjacent to the extended portions of the back sleeves areshifted to the second needle bed so as to be laid over the stitches ofthe sleeves at side ends thereof, so as to join the front body and theback body together across the extended portions of the sleeves. Then,the collar is knitted continuously to the neckline thus formed. As aresult of this, the neckline is increased in number of wale and thecollar knitted continuously thereto is also increased in width, thusproducing the knitwear that is so comfortable to wear that when wearing,one's head can smoothly pass through the neckline.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026]FIG. 1 shows a round-necked, set-in sweater knitted in theembodiment of the present invention;

[0027]FIG. 2 shows parts of the set-in sweater that are to be knitted ona flat knitting machine;

[0028]FIG. 3 shows a left half of the sweater as viewed from the back;

[0029]FIG. 4 shows an outline of the knitting of the sweater in therespective steps;

[0030]FIG. 5 shows a first half of the knitting steps of the sweater ofthe embodiment; and

[0031]FIG. 6 shows a second half of the knitting steps of the sweater ofthe embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0032] In the following, a certain preferred embodiment of the presentinvention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. In the illustrated embodiment, a flat knitting machine havingfront and back needle beds, which have a number of knitting needlesarranged in line, which confront each other in front and back, with theback needle bed being capable of being racked laterally, and betweenwhich stitches are transferred, is used, though not shown.

[0033]FIG. 1 shows a set-in sweater 1 knitted in this embodiment. FIG. 2shows a pattern paper (stitch alignment) of bodies and sleeves of thesweater 1. Illustrated above is the pattern of a back body 2 b and backsleeve parts 4 b, 14 b which will appear at the back side when wearingthe sweater. These parts are knitted with needles on the back needlebed. Illustrated below is the pattern of a front body 2 a and frontsleeve parts 4 a, 14 a which will appear at the front side when wearingthe sweater. These parts are knitted with needles on the front needlebed. FIG. 3 shows the left half of the sweater 1 as viewed from theback. FIG. 4 shows an outline of the knitting of the sweater 1 in therespective steps. The knitting proceeds in the direction indicated by anarrow, beginning at S. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the knitting steps,illustrating the knitting in each step of FIG. 4 in detail. In thesediagrams, the front body is represented by a boldest solid line; theback body is represented by a second-boldest solid line; and the sleevesare represented in a solid line.

[0034] The sweater 1 knitted in this embodiment is a rounded-necksweater which has the courses formed from the hem of the front body tothe shoulder at the point F larger in number than the courses formedfrom the hem of the back body to the shoulder at O and is designed sothat the front body goes beyond a shoulder line 18 into the back bodyand is joined to the back body thereat. For convenience of explanation,the sweater is designed in the form of an unpatterned plain knit, thoughit may have another structure pattern such as jacquard or rib.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 2, the front body 2 a and the front sleeve parts4 a, 14 a are joined at the underarms A, a and Q, q of the front bodyand the front sleeve parts, and the back body 2 b and the back sleeveparts 4 b, 14 b are joined at the underarms M, m and U, u of the backbody and the back sleeve parts. The line A-B-C of the front body 2 a andthe line Q-R of the sleeve 4 a are joined together around the armhole22, and the line a-b-c of the front body 2 a and the line q-r of thesleeve 14 b line are joined together around the armhole 22. Likewise,the line M-N-O of the back body 2 b and the line U-V of the sleeve 4 bare joined together, and the line m-n-o of the back body 2 b and theline u-v of the sleeve 14 b are joined together. The front body 2 a isdifferent from the back body 2 b in the shape subsequent to the pointsK, k of the neckline 10 a and is knitted to be forked into the rightfront body 15 a and the left front body 5 b. The line R-S of the leftfront sleeve 4 a is joined to the line C-D of the left front body 5 a,first, and, then, the line r-s of the left front sleeve 14 a is joinedto the line c-d of the left front body 15 a. Then, the line S-T of theleft front sleeve 4 a is joined to the line D-E of the left front body 5a, and the line X-W of the left back sleeve 4 b is joined to the nextline E-F. Likewise, the line s-t of the right front sleeve 14 a isjoined to the line d-e of the right front body 15 a, first, and, then,the line x-w of the right back sleeve 14 b is joined to the next linee-f. The line F-G of the front body 2 a and the line W-Z of the leftback sleeve 4 b are joined together at the shoulder, and the line O-P ofthe back body 2 b and the line V-Y of the left back sleeve 4 b arejoined together at the shoulder. The line f-g of the front body 2 a andthe line w-z of the right back sleeve 14 b are joined together and theline o-p of the back body 2 b and the line v-y of the right back sleeve14 b are joined together. It is to be noted that the terms “right” and“left” appearing in the members, such as the right front body and theleft sleeve, is intended to mean the right-hand part and the left-handpart when viewing from the a wearer who wears the sweater.

[0036] Then, reference will be made to the knitting steps of FIGS. 5 and6. In the step 1, after yarns are fed to needles of a front needle bedFB by yarn feeders (not shown) prepared for the body 2 and the sleeves4, 14, respectively, the yarn feeders are reversed in direction to feedthe yarns to needles of a back needle bed BB. This knitting is repeatedto start to knit rib portions 6, 7, 17 of a tubular body. In the step 2,the sleeves 4, 14 are knitted up to the underarms (at A, Q, a, q, M, U,m, u) in parallel with the knitting of the body 2, while increasing thediameters of the sleeves 4, 14.

[0037] From the underarms onward, the body 2 and the sleeves 4, 14 areunited into a single tubular body by using the same yarn feeders thathave been used, for example, for the knitting of the body. Whenever thecourse of the tubular body and sleeves is knitted, the stitches of thesleeves 4, 14 are shifted toward and laid over the body 2. This knittingis repeated to gradually reduce the diameter of the tubular body. Inthis knitting, the knitting width of the body is also reduced. The step3 shows the state of the knitted fabrics retained on the needle bedswhen the front body 2 a has been knitted up to the positions K, k atwhich the formation of the neckline 10 a is started.

[0038] From the points K, k, the front body 2 a is forked into a rightfront body 15 a and a left front body 5 a. From the points K, k at whichthe formation of the neckline 10 a is started to the next points J, j,the front body is knitted in the order of the right front body 15 a, theright sleeve 14, the back body 2 b, the left sleeve 4 and the left frontbody 5 a. Thereafter, the yarn feeders are reversed in direction at theneckline 10 a to proceed with the knitting of the front body in theinverse order of the left front body 5 a, the left sleeve 4, the backbody 2 b, the right sleeve 14 and the right front body 15 a as if thealphabetic character “C” is drawn. This knitting is repeatedlyperformed. In this knitting, the so-called flechage knitting isperformed, so that the stitches around the neckline 10 a (lines K-J andk-j) are sequentially put into inoperative states.

[0039] The step 4 shows the state of the knitted fabrics retained on theneedle beds when the front body 2 a has been knitted up to the positionsJ, j to which the formation of the neckline 10 a comes up. In thisstate, the line A-B-C of the front body 2 a and the line Q-R of thesleeve 4 a; the line a-b-c of the front body 2 a and the line q-r of thesleeve 14 b; the line M-N-O of the back body 2 b and the line U-V of thesleeve 4 b; and the line m-n-o of the back body 2 b and the line u-v ofthe sleeve 14 b are joined together, respectively. In this stage, thestitches of the sleeves 4, 14 arranged on the flat portions R-T, V-X,r-t and v-x at the top of their sleeve caps, i.e., nine stitches (wale)indicated by the numeric characters 1 to 9, are retained on the needlebeds. These steps 1-4 corresponds to “s”, “t”, “u” and “v” shown in FIG.4, respectively.

[0040] Next, the knitting steps 5-14 corresponding to the knitting stepssubsequent to the step “v” of FIG. 4 will be described. From this step,the knitting of the back body 2 b is temporarily suspended and theknitting of the front body only is performed. The steps 5-7 show theknitting of the neckline 10 a leading up to the positions I, i. In thesesteps, an additional yarn feeder is added and whenever the courses ofthe right front body 15 a and left front body 5 a are knitted, thestitches of the right front sleeve 14 a and the stitches of the leftfront sleeve 4 a are shifted toward their bodies, so that the stitchesof these sleeves are laid over the stitches of the front bodies at sideends thereof. This knitting is repeatedly performed in these steps. Sixstitches 1-6 of nine stitches 1-9 located on the flat portions R-T andr-t of the sleeve caps of the right front sleeve 14 a and left frontsleeve 4 a are joined to the front body at the positions I, i. The step5 shows the state of the first stitch 1 of the stitches 1-6 being laidover the body. The step 6 shows the state of the next stitch 2 beinglaid over the body. If the sequent stitches 3-6 undergo the sameknitting, then only the fabrics of the front sleeves 4 a, 14 a will beshifted toward the body, resulting in possible yarn breakage in theboundaries between T and X and between t and x, respectively. To avoidthis possible yarn breakage, the stitches of the back sleeves 4 b, 14 bare sequentially fed to the front needle bed from the stitch 9 at eachside end thereof, so as to minimize the difference in knitting widthbetween the sleeves retained on the front needle bed and the sleevesretained on the back needle bed. The knitting step that the stitches 3-6are laid over the front body is inserted between the step 6 and the step7, though the illustration is omitted here.

[0041] In the illustrated embodiment, the knitting to join together thefront bodies 5 a, 15 a and the right front sleeve 14 a and left frontsleeve 4 a is provided collaterally, before leading up to theirpositions I, i of the neckline 10 a, as shown in the steps 5-7. As asubstitute for this, another knitting way may be adopted, such as theknitting that after the knitting to join together one of a pair, e.g.the right front body 15 a and the right front sleeve 14 a, leading up tothe position i, is completed, the knitting to join together the other ofthe pair, i.e., the left front body 5 a and the left front sleeve 4 a,is provided. When the stitches of the right front sleeve 14 a areshifted toward the right front body 15 a in each stitch transfer, so asto be joined to the right front body 15 a, the same stitches,particularly the stitches in the last half of the knitting process, aresubjected to transfer many times and, as a result of this, there is thepossibility that the yarn breakage may be incurred. To prevent thispossible yarn breakage, all stitches of the right front sleeve 14 a maybe transferred to the back needle bed for a while, and, then, wheneverthe course knitting of the right front body 15 is provided, the backneedle bed is racked rightwards to shift the right front sleeve 14 atoward the body, so as to allow the stitches of the right front sleeve14 a to be laid over the right front body 15 a. In the case of thefour-bed flat knitting machine, the stitches of the right front sleeve14 a are transferred to the upper back needle bed. Then, when the backneedle bed is racked, the stitches of the left back sleeve 4 b are fedfrom outside to the front needle bed, to keep balance between theknitting width of the front fabric and the knitting width of the backfabric, so that the stitches of the left front sleeve 4 a retained onthe front needle bed and the stitches of the left back sleeve 4 bretained on the back needle bed are kept in position, without being awayfrom each other in the boundary therebetween. After the completion ofthe knitting of the one of the pair in this manner, the same knitting isprovided for the left front body 5 a and the left front sleeve 4 a.

[0042] In the next steps 8 and 9, the knitting to increase the knittingwidth of the front neckline 10 a is provided subsequent to the positionI, i. This knitting is provided during the knitting of the right frontbody 15 a and the left front body 5 a. When the formation of theneckline 10 is led up to the position H, h, the line D-E of the leftfront body 5 a and the line S-T of the left front sleeve 4 a are joinedtogether and the line d-e of the right front body 15 a and the line s-tof the right front sleeve 14 a are joined together. When the formationof the neckline 10 is led up to the position G, g, the line E-F of theleft front body 5 a and the line X-W of the left back sleeve 4 b arejoined together and the line e-f of the right front body 15 a and theline x-w of the right back sleeve 14 b are joined together. The step 8shows the course knitting of the left front body 5 a during which theright part of the neckline 10 a is formed. In this step, whenever theleft front body 5 a is knitted in two courses, the stitches of the leftfront body 5 a are shifted toward and laid over the stitches of theadjacent left sleeve 4 one after another. In this step, this knitting isrepeated six times, so that the knitting width of the neckline 10 a isincreased six stitches (wale) at the right side. Whenever the stitchesof the left front body 5 a are transferred toward the left sleeve 14,widening stitches (marked by “x”) are formed around the neckline, toprevent the margin of the neckline 10 a from being bored. Although thewidening stitches can be formed by using the widening technique such astuck and split knit, any other techniques than the widening techniquementioned above may be used, as long as it can close up the boredportion. The step 9 shows the course knitting of the right front body 15a during which the left part of the neckline 10 a is formed. Thisknitting is provided in the same manner as in the step 8. As a result ofthis, in this embodiment, the knitting width of the front neckline 10 ais increased twelve stitches (wale) in total, six stitches for each sidethereof. While in the embodiment illustrated above, the right part ofthe neckline is knitted in the step 8, first, and, then, the left partof the neckline is knitted in the step 9, the both parts of the necklinemay be knitted collaterally.

[0043] The step 10 shows the state of the knitted fabrics retained onthe needle beds when the neckline 10 a is knitted up to the position G,g at which the knitting of the front body 2 a is ended. In this step,the knitted fabric of the front body 2 a forming the front neckline 10 atherein is retained on the front needle bed, and the stitches of theback body 2 b laying between O-o and the stitches 1-6 of the backsleeves laying between V-W and between v-w located at both sides of theback body are retained on the back needle bed.

[0044] Next, reference will be made to the knitting of the shoulderportion shown in the steps 10-13. In these steps, the temporarilysuspended course knitting of the back body 2 b is restarted and thecourse knitting of the shoulder portion of the back body 2 b indicatedby 12 in FIG. 2 is provided. The knitting of the shoulder portion 12 isprovided in parallel with the knitting of the rectangular portions 9 b,19 b extending from the sleeve caps of the right and left back sleeves14 b, 4 b. This knitting is provided in the shuttle knitting using asingle yarn feeder to knit shuttlewise between the right back sleeve 14b, the back body 12 and the left back sleeve 4 b. In each courseknitting, the knitted fabrics of the sleeves 9 b, 19 b are shiftedtoward the back body 2 b to allow the stitches at the side ends of thesleeves and the stitches at the side ends of the back body to beoverlaid with each other one by one, so as to gradually reduce theknitting width of the back body. During this knitting, the stitches ofthe front body 2 a at the side end thereof adjacent to the sleeves 9 b,19 b are fed to the back needle bed one after another in each case, soas to be laid over the stitches at the side ends of the sleeves 9 b, 19b. As a result of this, the front body 2 a and the back body 2 b arejoined to each other across the rectangular portions 9 b, 19 b of thesleeves (See. FIG. 3). Thus, the line F-G of the front body 2 a and theline W-Z of the left back sleeve 4 b are joined together and the lineO-P of the back body 2 b and the line V-Y of the left back sleeve 4 bare joined together. Likewise, the line f-g of the front body 2 a andthe, line w-z of the right back sleeve 14 b are joined together and theline o-p of the back body 2 b and the line v-y of the right back sleeve14 b are joined together. The step 12 shows the state in which thediameter of the tubular body is partly reduced. The step 13 shows thestate presented when the knitting proceeds further and the joining ofthe shoulder portion is ended. In this state, only the front neckline 10a is retained on the front needle bed, while on the other hand, the backneckline 10 b and the rectangular portions 9 b, 19 b of the right andleft back sleeves 14 b, 4 b are retained on the back needle bed.

[0045] In the step 14, after a desired number of courses of the collar20 are knitted cyclically along the annulus (around the lineg-h-i-j-k-K-J-I-H-G-Z-Y-P-p-y-z-g) formed by joining the dots g, h, i,j, k, K, J, I, H and G on the neckline formed in the front body 2 a, thedots Z and Y of the left back sleeve 4 b, the dots P and p of the backbody 2 a and the dots y and z of the right back sleeve 14 b, theknitting of the sweater 1 is ended.

[0046] As mentioned above, as the result of widening stitches beingprovided when the front neckline 10 a is formed, the knitting width ofthe front neckline 10 a comes to be larger than that of the backneckline 10 b, then causing difference in knitting width between thefront and back parts. However, since the rectangular portions 9 b, 19 bof the right and left back sleeves 14 b, 4 b are knitted continuously,when the shoulder portion 12 of the back body is knitted, so that thefront and back parts of the tubular body can be made to have a uniformknitting width, the fabric can be knitted in tubular form at the collarwithout any difficulty.

[0047] The sweater 1 knitted in this manner comes to have the front dropformed in the neckline 10 and resultantly comes to be stylish. Besides,it comes to have such a largely opened neckline that when wearing, one'shead can smoothly pass through the neckline, resulting in beingcomfortable to wear. While in the illustrated embodiment, the collar 20is knitted in the form of a rounded neck, it may be knitted in anydesired design such as a turtle neck. Also, the neckline may be formedin U-shape.

CAPABILITIES OF EXPLOITATION IN INDUSTRY

[0048] According to the present invention, the number of wale of theneckline is increased, and as such can allow the width of the collar toincrease, as mentioned above, thus producing the knitwear that is socomfortable to wear that when wearing, one's head can smoothly passthrough the neckline.

1. A method of knitting knitwear comprising a front part having a frontbody and sleeves and a back part having a back body and sleeves by usinga flat knitting machine comprising at least a pair of first and secondneedle beds, which are extended laterally and confront each other inback and front and at least either of which can be racked laterally totransfer stitches between the needles beds, wherein the knitwear isknitted in the condition that the front part of the knitwear isassociated with the first needle bed and the back part of the knitwearis associated with the second needle bed, so that the body and sleevesof the front part and the body and sleeves of the back part are joinedat both knitting-widthwise ends, so as to be knitted in the form of atubular body and wherein while the bodies and the sleeves are knitted upto underarms of the knitwear and then are joined together from theunderarms to shoulders so as to be knitted into a tubular form, stitchesof the both sleeves and stitches of the bodies are laid over each otherin sequence so that the tubular body can gradually decreased indiameter, wherein a neckline is knitted in the following steps: a) thatfrom a front neckline forming starting point, from which the front bodyis forked into a right front body and a left front body, the right frontbody, a right sleeve, the back body, a left sleeve and the left frontbody are knitted in this order, and, then, after a yarn feeder isreversed in direction at the front neckline, to knit the left frontbody, the left sleeve, the back body, the right sleeve and the rightfront body in this order in a shuttle knitting, during which thestitches around the front neckline are sequentially put into inoperativestates and simultaneously the stitches of the both sleeves are shiftedtoward the bodies and are laid over the stitches of the bodies one afteranother, so as to decrease a diameter of the tubular body; b) that onlythe left front body and the right front body are knitted, during whichthe stitches around the front neckline are sequentially removed from theknitting so as to be put into inoperative states and also while thestitches of the back sleeves are fed from outside to the front needlebed to keep balance between the knitting widths of the front and backfabrics at sleeve portions thereof retained on the first and secondneedle beds, the stitches of the front sleeves are shifted toward thefront body and laid over the stitches of the front body; c) that whilethe knitting that the stitches around the front neckline aresequentially removed from the knitting so as to be put into inoperativestates is continuously performed, the knitting of only the right frontbody and the left front body is performed, during which while wideningstitches are formed, the stitches of the right front body and thestitches of the left front body are shifted toward the sleeves, so as toallow the stitches of the front sleeves to be laid over the stitches ofthe back sleeves as were fed to the first needle bed in the step b); andd) that after shoulder portions of the back body and extended portionsprovided on tops of sleeve caps of the back sleeves are knitted in theorder of the right back sleeve, the back body and the left back sleeve,the yarn feeder is reversed in direction to knit the left back sleeve,the back body and the right back sleeve in this reverse order in theshuttle knitting, during which the fabrics at the extended portions arefed toward the back body so as to allow the stitches at side ends of thesleeves and the stitches at side ends of the back body to be laid overeach other and simultaneously the stitches of the front body at sideends thereof adjacent to the sleeves are fed to the second needle bed soas to be sequentially laid over the stitches at the side ends of thesleeves, whereby the front body and the back body are joined togetheracross the extended portions of the sleeves.
 2. A knitting method ofknitwear having a neckline with a front drop knitted by using a flatknitting machine, the neckline is knitted in the following steps: a)that portions of front sleeves extending from underarms to tops ofsleeve caps are joined to first portions of the front body extendingpartway of their lengths extending from the underarms to the shouldersalong armholes; b) that tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves anda part of tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves on the sidecontinuous to the tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves arejoined to part of the front body extending from the first portions tothe shoulders, and widening stitches are formed around the neckline atthe part of the front body extending therefrom to the shoulders; c) thatportions of the back sleeves extending from the underarms to the tops ofthe sleeve caps are joined to portions of the back body extending fromthe underarms to the shoulders along the armholes; and d) that extendedportions are formed in the remaining portions of the tops of the sleevecaps of the back sleeves and are knitted to be continuous to theshoulder portions of the back body, and the front body and the back bodyare joined together across the extended portions.
 3. A knitwear having aneckline with a front drop knitted by using a flat knitting machine,wherein portions of front sleeves extending from underarms to tops ofsleeve caps are joined to first portions of the front body extendingpartway of their lengths extending from the underarms to the shouldersalong armholes; wherein tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves anda part of tops of the sleeve caps of the back sleeves on the sidecontinuous to the tops of the sleeve caps of the front sleeves arejoined to part of the front body extending from the first portions tothe shoulders, and widening stitches are formed around the neckline atthe part of the front body extending therefrom to the shoulders;portions of the back sleeves extending from the underarms to the tops ofthe sleeve caps are joined to portions of the back body extending fromthe underarms to the shoulders along the armholes; and wherein extendedportions are formed in the remaining portions of the tops of the sleevecaps of the back sleeves and are knitted to be continuous to theshoulder portions of the back body, and the front body and the back bodyare joined together across the extended portions.